(Almost) back to the NRC 10k Plan Week 4, Run 4...and 4k run 😁

[Yesletsgo]

After my gentle start back to running I decided to do Wk 4 Run 4 of the plan today. A 35 minute recovery run sounded perfect. Not too far, not too fast. The sun was shining and the thermometer said 14C so I decided to brave my running vest. First time this year Good move, it was really warm out there.

The paths have dried out a lot in two days despite the fact it rained last night. Just a couple of muddy places, easy enough to avoid. The sun shone, Coach B more or less kept to the subject, couldn't have been much better. Lots of courteous dog walkers. It all felt very relaxed (though the HR numbers from Garmin tell a different story but let's ignore them )

I took a few detours along the route as otherwise I'd have had to run all the way to my front door to manage 35 minutes. When I finally pressed pause at the end it was really gratifying to find I'd covered exactly 4km. Not 4.01 or 3.99. 4.00 exactly. How often does that happen?

Not sure whether my next run will be the 8k long run the Plan suggests. It'll depend on my mood, the weather and probably some other things too, but at least I've ticked another one off the list and feel like I'm getting back to where I want to be.

[Jools2020 Graduate10]

Well done! 👏👏👏👍

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to Jools2020]

Thanks 😁

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10]

Sounds like a good run! Do you feel as if the distance of the long run has jumped up quite quickly or is that just me having been knocked off course? Pretty sure I couldn't make 8k at the moment but I'm sure we will both get there!

[Yesletsgo Graduate10]

Yes and no Gwenllian1 .

A couple of years ago, early 2022, I decided to do the NRC HM plan with a view to reaching 10k (no 10k plan in the app then). The 8k run felt like a huge leap!

I did my research, made sure I ate beforehand etc etc, and set off convinced it was too much ... but it wasn't. Shortly afterwards I gave up the plan as I felt 10k was a bigger milestone than just another 'Long Run' lol.

I carried on running regularly (-ish), around 5ks mostly, and in the summer decided to do a 10k in October. The furthest I actually ran beforehand was a 6k, at which point I decided I wasn't ready. Then my friend, who I'd told about the 10k, messaged me to see if I was going to do it. I said no, then reconsidered, and decided I'd just go for it and see how far I could get.

I completed it in 1hr 17 mins, mostly on adrenaline (still can't quite believe this!!) but it just goes to show we can do much more than we think. The jump from 6k to 10k is huge but 8k is doable, and the jump from 8 to 10k is proportionately less. My longest recent run was 7k, it was just one of those days when I set out to do 5k but was hit a groove and just carried on. I know if I can harness that energy I can do 8k.

The thing that puts me off the longer runs is the time they take. If I could do a 20 minute 5k I'd be done and dusted in the 10k in less than 45 minutes. For me 1:17 was very fast, I'd set a mental goal of around 1:30 as an almost unattainable goal. That's a long time to be running. For a HM it'd be 2hrs 45, for a marathon around 5 1/2hours. I just don't want to run for that long at the moment

Good luck with the plan and don't be scared of the 8k - just try it and if you have to stop at 5 or 6 or 7 (or even 4,3,2 or 1) at least you've had a good run. I bet you'll surprise yourself

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate10]

I am so impressed you hit 4km! That must have felt extra satisfying.

I’m sure you’ll know on the day whether 8km is right or if it’s best to wait. You’ll get there in the right time. I’m supposed to be doing 9kn this week but last week was a write off. We’ll see. We may well end up doing 8km together this week!

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to MissUnderstanding]

I've only got one run left on week 4 and that's the 8k. Tomorrow looks like it'll be ok weatherwise, if I can get a good night's sleep and psych myself up enough between now and the morning it might just happen

Or I might do a 5k. The beauty of this plan is it isn't written in stone.

Good luck if you do the 9k!